Resoling Shoes

As anyone had any experience resoling dance shoes? What was the result? Did the new sole adhere well? And hopefully, was the life of the shoe entended?

I have a pair of Freed Roma black leather practice shoes that I dearly love. In fact, I love and wear them so much I've almost completely worn the suede bottom off. So, rather than retiring the shoes, I decided to give resoling a try. I bought a pair of new black soles from Supadance. The package said to cut the soles to the size of your shoes. I wondered what I was supposed to use to trace the shoes, and I finally ended up using a white eyelining pencil. Then, after trying 3 pairs of scissors, I found a pair sharp enough to cut through the thick sole. Then I had to brush the bottom of the old sole to clean it up and profide some traction. Next, it was onto the gluing. The Supadance package wasn't specfic about what type of glue to use, so I decided to use a clear glue along with a little crazyglue. The mix seems to be adhering the new sole to the bottom of the shoe pretty well (I have brush on crazy glue if it doesn't hold). To finish, I used to scissors to trim off additional excess from the new sole.

The leather part of the shoe was looking a little battered too, so I used black shoe polish along with a little mink oil to clean them up. The shoes look almost new again. My next dance lesson is Tuesday, so I'll see how the shoes actually wear. Resoling is a much cheaper alternative than new shoes! :wink:

I haven't done resueding my myself. I had a cobbler do it with my pair of 9-year-old standard shoes (which I had not worn since the suede wore down a few years ago) and a set of shoes I've had for about a year. To say the least, I enjoy having my first pair of dancing shoes back for practice and swing-dancing purposes.

You need to make sure that the glue you use is flexible after it dries. Ordinary white glue (Elmers) or cyanoacrylate (crazy glue or super glue) are not flexible. You need something more in the line of contact cement, which dries to a rubber-like consistency. The other glues will crack and lose their adhesive qualities.

I use contact cement (paint both sides, let dry out doors, press together) for large areas like an entire sole, and superglue (cyanoacrylate) for small delalmination repairs. Don't worry - the superglue will flex. If it comes off again, it's because that part of the sole is under inordinate stress due to the way the shoe fits or is used - just glue it again, or possibly consider trimming the sole there.

There is a special contact cement for leather, but I just used normal stuff from the a craft or hardware store. For superglue, the krazy glue brand with its outer storage tube around the tiny bottle seems like the safest to carry (don't cary the usual little squeeze tubes - eventually one will break and leak all over the place)

Shoe Goo is for thick semi-rigid rubber soles where there may be gaps between sole and upper that need to be filled. I dont' think it's right for dance shoes where you want a thin film situation.

Where do you get the suede to resole? Is there a special "type" of suede to be used, or can I cut up an old "hippie" jacket :roll: and use that?

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You just want chromium (or aluminum) salts tanned cowhide splits. This is actually the waste product after premium grain leather is split off the outside of the skin. Jacket type suede may be too soft/expensive, but if it's free you could try it.

I found a bag of scraps in a craft store from tandy leather that did two pairs of character shoes for friends, plus a bunch of suede star heels covers and recovering the heels on my own shoes. Unfortunately, the scrap bags they have in stock right now don't look to have as many usefull pieces, at least as far as I can tell without buying an opening one (for all of $6).

I wore the resoled shoes yesterday during my lesson, and, for the most part, they were fine. The glue is adhering well between the bottom of the shoe and the new sole. When I was dancing, the contact with the floor was a somewhat different, and I slid a bit. I'm going to rough up the new soles more with the shoe brush before I wear them again.

I finally wore through the soles of a pair of standard shoes: bought them early fall just under two years ago, have worn them as my primary shoes all but a few months of that time. Regularly try to rip them to shreds with a shoe brush, and only now finding the first hole. That is to say, the first one in the sole: I've been sewing up a growing rip in the uppers for most of the past year...

I did have to replace the suede covering on the heel a year ago as it had worn excessively during a certain phase of my dancing. Women's shoes with their small heels might need replacement almost daily in that situation.

I've worn the practice shoes I resoled several times, and they're fine. The glue mixture I used is adhering well. As for the new soles, after being brushed several times with a shoe brush the slippage problem I experienced the first time I wore them is gone.

The proper glue for attaching large area leather pieces is a contact cement - the stuff you can get from a hardware/craft store is okay, though there are special leather versions out there that may easier to apply in a consistently even thin film.

You paint it on both surfaces, let them dry for a while (outside) and then assembly with a lot of pressure.

There was some stuff my instructor told me about recently called "Shoegoo". It's made specifically for shoe repairs though i've also heard it's popular in the skateboarding scene for attaching the grips to the top of skateboards.

I suppose shoe repair stores have suede replacements, right? Or if you go to a store and give them the suede to glue it on, that would be no problem.
Anyone done that? Very interested to know, suede wears out pretty quickly if you dance a lot.

I suppose shoe repair stores have suede replacements, right? Or if you go to a store and give them the suede to glue it on, that would be no problem.
Anyone done that? Very interested to know, suede wears out pretty quickly if you dance a lot.

Twilight Elena

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Thanks for resurrecting this thread again TE!

I've checked with a few shoe repair stores, strangely enough, where I live, they don't seem to have suede replacements... :? But I guess giving them suede to glue it on shouldn't be a problem... Anyone else?

I've got a question: is it a good idea to put suede bottom on the normal fashion shoes for dancing purpose? Cause I bought this pair of shoes from a normal fashin shoe shop today having dancing in mind.. but since the pair has plastic bottom, i may need suede for extra grip..